Search results for: “good news”

This is the first time in my life I’ve had both a cat and a dog at the same time. I think we were a bit idealistic about how they would get along when Stoney came home a couple weeks back. So far, it hasn’t worked out.

While I was in the back yard this morning burning leaves and brush, Stoney was happily laying nearby. I also knew that Violet, our cat, was in the yard and asking to be let inside and away from the dog. Well, she got a bit too close and the dog noticed the cat. The next things I knew I was in an episode right out of Dumb and Dumber. The cat ran to one end of the yard with the dog hot on it’s tail. I was hollering at them both… then the cat realized she couldn’t jump the fence at full speed so she doubled back and hauled butt towards the tree. Just as Stoney was neared her tail… Violet gave a huge leap and flew up about 20 feet into a tree. I didn’t even know that cat could climb trees and I wondered if she knew she could. Instincts saved the day.

Within a few minutes I had the dog safely in the basement and the cat came inside to rest. So much for the dog and cat living in harmony.

In other news… I placed a limit order to buy some stock today in a company most people haven’t heard of before. Grey Wolf Inc is a oil rig driller. The play is that after Katrina and Rita there will be an increased desire to drill both on and off shore in the U.S. Well, with a previous downturn in that business… a lot of driller went out of business and their rigs were sold off. But since there is a huge demand for drilling now and not a lot of drilling rigs… Grey Wolf is working 24/7 to try to keep up. It might only be a stock I hold for a quarter or so… but I think it’s a solid energy play… away from my default “likes” of retail consumer goods and technology. I am eager to hear Intel’s numbers tommorow. I’d like for them to make me some money before I ditch them 1/1/06.

My week started yesterday fairly normally. I made the

, uploaded it to the web server, published our podcast, and started to tick things off the list of “things to do when PB is on vacation.” A big accomplishment we’ve had this month is that Shawna and I have been integrating Youth Track across all ministries of the church. [Our youth group management software.] Well, long story short. When I was installing the software on PB’s computer I had to link it to our network database. I was doing like 10 other things and when a dialogue popped up that said “Do you want to overwrite your database?” I meant to click no but instead I clicked YES. Within 10 seconds we lost 4 days of work. Not a good start to the day.

So the rest of my day was spent trying to repair the damage. I got most of it done. Amazingly, Shawna got a lot of her families back on line and I got all of her programs up. But nonetheless, it was a bad day.

On my way home, it got worse. I checked our cell phone bill on my phone. Bear in mind that our contract is for $59.99 a month. Our bill… $175! I was livid. Apparently there were about 3 add-owns we were paying for that were ringing our bill up. Plus, it appears we went over our minutes by a mere 180. Kristen made a 30 minute phone call to a neighbor that cost us like $30. I called Cingular and screamed at them. There is simply no way that a normal person can understand their bill. When I asked why they didn’t contact us to let us know we had been going over so badly in the past few months they told me “Well, we have 50 million customers and you want us to call you? Yeah right.” That sent me over the deep end! In typical Cingular [Understand this is just SBC in sheeps clothing, the worst non-airline company in America.] fashion I could have avoid $90 in overage charges if I bumped our plan up $10 and doubled our minutes. Fantastic customer service. AT&T wireless never did this to me. Ugh.

In other news… the master bedroom is 99% complete. We slept there last night as I finally was able to put up all the moldings. I have literally 2 more small things to do in there and then I am done. Kristen’s design is coming together now… Pretty soon our bedroom will be a Moroccan oasis.

The following is an article a student of mine wrote for the churches monthly newsletter. I thought it was good enough to reprint here. Andrea shares some pretty good insights and observations…

Living for Jesus in High School

Recently, I took a test on prepositional phrases. I still don’t know exactly what they are, even though I aced the test, but soon after I was read this verse “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) So I thought to myself, “How can I take tests and other school work for the glory of God?”

I think that the application of this verse isn’t just in what I say or do, but more in how I do it. For example, instead of sleeping in class, I should pay attention and work hard. I need try to keep my moral standards high, even when it seems like the entire student body is involved in “questionable activities.” I need to be nice to the nerds. I need to be positive, but not fake. These are difficult things to consistently do, and anyone who knows me can see my struggle, and keeping to these standards involves a lot of prayer, reflection, and relying in my relationship with God.

Lots of times, I think that it would be so much easier to just stop being Christian for a week. I could relax with my friends at an R-rated movie; laugh at their dirty jokes, and talk any way I wanted. If I were able to do that I wouldn’t get that guilty feeling when I know I should speak up about my faith, but I don’t. So, if it’s so much easier to not be a Christian, why do it?

I can’t answer that for you. But for me, as difficult as the going gets, I know that no matter how attractive their lives may be, my friends are not happy. They are atheistic, agnostic, New Agers, self-reliant, homosexual, immodest, conspiracy theorists and live very liberal lifestyles. When they are honest about it, they are also dissatisfied with life and looking for answers. I know the answers they are looking for could be found in Jesus, and they know I know Jesus, so they are watching me closely. They are watching to see if my faith is real, to see if it really does make a difference in my person’s life.

Living for Jesus in my high school doesn’t always mean that I need to preach the gospel at every turn. It means that I need to conduct my life according to Biblical standards. I need to do everything to the best of my ability. I need to let God take control of every part of my life not only because those decisions are pleasing to God, but also because my friends are watching me.

Kristen and I learned that our old pastor, Ray Pritchard, is leaving his post as the senior pastor at our Beloved Calvary. [Yes, Kristen and I still think of Calvary that way. In some ways, it will always be our home.]

What’s interesting about how I am responding to this, a mixure of “I knew it would happen eventually” and “I can’t believe it…,” is that I actually care this much. I mean, I don’t go there… and we haven’t been members there for more than 3 years. What’s even weirder about the whole thing is that he and I are virtual strangers. Sure, I was technically a part-time person there for a year or so as an intern/interrim High School leader. But he and I never met formally as employee to employer, we just met a few times socially and that was it. The only time I ever talked to him as a pastor to staffer was at the Christmas party after I had completed my internship. That was it.

What Ray means to Calvary is like a parable. In a lot of ways that church carries his personality. Big and tall, bold and conservative. In a place like Oak Park, Illinois… being bold and conservative earned him a reputation. Oak Park is anything but a haven for conservative Christians. I remember when we lived there we were shocked to learn that our town had been labeled “the gay freindliest place in the midwest.”

And yet Ray was respected there. He earned the respect of even his biggest critics. Take a look at some of these articles that a flowing into the hugely liberal newspaper… the Wednesday Journal.

‘Restless’ Pritchard to leave Calvary Church
Lamenting the loss of two conservatives

Ray leaves big shoes to fill. In his 16 years at Calvary he really grew the name of his church in the community. More than that, he has become a nationally recognized speaker, author of more than 20 books, and radio/TV show regular in Christian circles. I don’t know what he’s off to do, but as a friend of mine remarked… “It’s going to be good.” An elder of the church said in a newspaper article… “We’re just happy to have had him for our pastor.”

Godspeed to Ray and his family as they search out what is next.

Romeo area residents rally to help hurricane victims
by MICHELLE TANGUAY
Observer News Editor
Romeo area residents have once again displayed their compassion and generosity by coming together to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. From accepting donations of items and money to holding fundraisers, adults and children alike are helping the many whose lives have been devastated by the hurricane. One 7-year-old Romeo girl was so upset by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, she spent her Labor Day weekend selling lemonade to help those affected, especially the babies. Nicole Beaufait learned of the hurricane as her parents were watching television coverage of it. “I was watching the news and she was asking questions,” said her mother, Mary Jo Beaufait. “She said, `Mom, we have to have a family meeting,’” Mary Jo said. From that meeting, Nicole decided to have a lemonade stand to raise money. Assisted by her sister, Erin, 5, she set up a table outside of her house and made signs. Despite all of the activities going on during the Peach Festival, Nicole did not want to leave her stand, according to her mom. “She didn’t want to go to the carnival or go to the parade,” she said. Nicole, a second-grader at Croswell Elementary School, earned $100 for her efforts. “It made me feel really good,” she said of knowing that she is helping others. She has decided to use the money to buy diapers, baby food and canned food and then donate the items to the Salvation Army. “I was so extremely proud of her,” Mary Jo said. Members of First Baptist Church of Romeo also recognized the need to help the smallest victims of the hurricane. Earlier this month, eight members from the church traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss., bringing with them diapers, baby food and 3,000 pounds of water as well as a $3,500 donation. The eight men left on Tuesday, Sept. 6, and returned on Thursday, Sept. 8, and teamed up with a church from the west side of the state. All of the items taken had been donated in one day’s time after an announcement was made during the church’s services Sunday, Sept. 4. Adam McLane, pastor of student ministries at First Baptist, made the trip and was impressed with the congregation’s generosity. “People were so compassionate,” McLane said. “They just sprang to action.” When the group arrived in Hattiesburg, which is 60 to 70 miles from the Gulf coast, McLane said about one-third to one-half of the trees were down and signs were all blown out. He said on the day they arrived, about 50 percent of the city’s power came back online. After the truck was unloaded, the items were immediately reloaded on a U-Haul truck to be taken down to the Gulf coast, McLane said. While the group was only in Hattiesburg for a few hours, he said members were encouraged by what they saw. “What we really saw was neighbors helping neighbors,” he said. “We left more encouraged than we thought we would be,” he continued. Other members of the group were First Baptist Pastor Bob Bryant, Nathan Jordan, director of children’s ministries, and church members John Vasos, Dan Kueppers, Cliff Phillips, Dave Wrobleski and Richard Cummings. McLane said the church is working on some other ideas to assist the hurricane victims. For more information, go to the church’s Web site www.fbcromeo.org Here is a rundown of some other ways residents can help:
* Celebrationz will hold a benefit for hurricane victims 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 18. On that day, Celebrationz will donate all of the money made from haircuts to the relief effort. The benefit will also feature chair massages by a representative of Origins Institute for $1 a minute with all money donated to the effort. In addition, the Romeo High School cheerleaders will hold a car wash and donate all of the proceeds. The event will also feature live music. Celebrationz is located at 299 S. Main St. in Romeo.
* Members of the newly-formed Brownie Girl Scout Troop #3081 are seeking a business or individual to match the donation they plan to give the American Red Cross to help the victims of the hurricane. The troop was scheduled to have a bake sale at the Orchard Primary School Open House Sept. 13. Members also sold concessions during the Peach Festival. The Brownies will make a decision on their donation during their meeting Sept. 27. Anyone wishing to match the donation should call Christine Callender at (810) 798-0105 or Diane Palazzola at (810) 796-9146.
* Oakwood Cabinets in Almont is serving as a hurricane emergency relief drop-off location through Thursday, Sept. 15. Supplies needed include water, toiletries, batteries, non-perishable food items, candles, diapers, formula, new clothing items, shoes, paper products (paper plates, napkins, silverware, paper towels, etc.) Supplies can be dropped off 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oakwood Cabinets is located at 3803 Van Dyke. Call (810) 798-3032.
* Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep is accepting donations from residents or businesses who wish to assist those affected by Hurricane Katrina. The dealership’s 115 employees are making donations and Dick Huvaere, president of Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep, will match all employee donations 100 percent. “I’ve been through two hurricanes myself, so I know firsthand the devastation that something like this can cause,” Huvaere said. “We’ve asked all of our employees to help in any way that they can.” Donations will given to the Salvation Army. Send donations in the form of a check to Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep Hurricane Relief Program, P.O. Box 310, Richmond, MI 48062.
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is taking donations for hurricane relief. Donations can be dropped off at St. John Lutheran Church in Romeo or mailed to: ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764. Checks should be made out to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response with Hurricane Katrina written on the notation line. St. John is located at 246 Benjamin in Romeo.
* Schools in the Romeo School District are expected to hold fundraisers this month in their buildings to raise money for the hurricane relief effort. Once the fundraisers are held, the money raised will be combined and offered as one donation from the district.
* Macomb County has announced a coordinated effort known as Macomb Together to collect financial donations from residents and businesses all over the county and then give the money directly to aid agencies helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. “All of Macomb County is concerned about the agony and loss caused by Hurricane Katrina,” said Nancy White, chairwoman of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners. “We are standing together to funnel relief in a highly coordinated way directly to where it’s needed most.” Donations can be dropped off at six different locations throughout the county. Locally, donations can be dropped off at the 42nd District Court building, 14713 33 Mile Road. Checks should be made out to the Salvation Army or American Red Cross. Checks can also be mailed to: Macomb Together, Mount Clemens, MI 48043.

Last night was a good last night of drop-in. We spent some time hanging out and also had a bit of programing as well. I think we really saw that there could have been much, much more programing throughout the two weeks. We sang some praise songs, played some LF classic games, and I did a quic talk and challenge. They sat and participated and really listened as I answered their questions from the question box and shared the gospel.

For the 2 weeks, 9 students have given their lives to Christ and many, many more were willing to take my challenge to “give Jesus their Friday nights.” [This is when the drop-in/youth group will meet.]

As my mind starts to shift from what has happened in 5mile to what will happen in 5mile I am also reminded of the aims of this trip. Our work doesn’t stop when we leave Northern Ireland. For the people here, the work begins. And for the team coming home, the work has just begun. I know I have learned many things that I can do better in brining students closer to a relationship with Jesus… let’s pray that I am not alone in that.

I’ve also just realized something about myself. For a lot of the 2 weeks I have been very antsy. I’ve felt like I wasn’t giving anything to the team but just happily stayed in the background. In a lot of ways I’ve had to learn a new role… that of a backdoor supporter. I have been around to pick people up, challenge them, correct them, and just plain serve them. But it wasn’t until I got up to speak last night that I realized that I hadn’t gotten to do “this” the entire time I was there. Speaking to young people is something I like to do and am comfortable with. But since I wasn’t allowed to do it I had to learn a new role. Frankly, it stunk to be out of my “strong role” and it wasn’t until I got back into that role last night that I even noticed that. I really hope I have learned something from that. More on that in the future.

Camera problems… I don’t know what the deal is but I am taking pictures but not able to view them later. It’s pretty annoying. I took some videos last night that I’d like to have… but they seem to be gone. That stinks!

Clean-up My team will be busy all day trying to clean the hall. It is very, very bad. We have a few more hours, but I suspect it will take an all out effort to get it done.

Troubles in North Belfast Derek Tang asked me if these latest problems have anything to do with our teams. In looking at the map it is several miles from any of our teams. LisaB is closest in Monkstown… but still a long way away from any of that. While I don’t understand a lot of the history of “the troubles” it is clear that this is a case of two paramilitaries [gangs to us in the States] that are fighting over drug turf. Both parties technically fight against the IRA… but from what I can understand since it is so quiet right now the paramilitaries care mostly about drug turf. We are going to Hillsboro later today and that is a good distance from Belfast. [An hour or more… in NI that’s a long way!]

Just about 36 hours until we are home. Praise God for His abundant provisions. Thank you for praying for us!

News from Autumn in Killilea:

hello all. so, here is my story for today. so, last night, Chris and I
took JT (Carols4 year old son) to get a snack. On the way back, we ran
into Broghna,who asked me if I wanted to go to the drop in with her, I
didn’treally want to go, but I did anyway. So there was this drunk
guystanding on the corner,staring at us. We were having troubles
openingthe lock and it took us about 5 minutes. He kept on moving closer
andstaring at us. So we finally got it unlocked and we got inside andlocked it.
As soon as we were inside, he walked up and was staringright in the window
at us. He didnt go away, so we phoned Laura, andshe sent Clements over to come
pick us up,so we didnt have to leavewith a scary drunk guy standing right
outside the door. So then theguy left. We were all safe and OK, and I feel kinda
stupid, but it wasreally scary.today was our first day of kids club. about 40
kids showed up,whichwas awesome.It went really well. Adam came to visit
for a littlewhile, and we saw Beth on saturday too, so that was cool.I can’t
believe that we’ve been here for 14 days! its monday and wewill be home on
sunday! I swear like yesterday I was excited becauseit was a month til we
left. its already august! thats crazy!well goodbye all, love you and miss you

For those who haven’t heard from their kids in a while… Eveyone is fine. I know for a fact that Andrea doesn’t have e-mail access and Katie is chosing to obey the “leave home @ home rule.” So if you aren’t hearing from someone… know that they are fine. There is so much “back channel” talk between leaders and even to me that if something was up I’d know within a matter of hours. As David Schultz told me, there is nothing to worry about because even if something goes wrong there isn’t anything you can do about it. You’ll still have to trust us!
On that note… I’d be happy to answer any questions if someone has one. Just leave comments 🙂

From 5mile: This morning at our team meeting we were really dragging tail. I can’t include myself in that since I slept great last night and feel ready to take on the world. But everyone else looked tired, very tired. This was a chance for me to put my “Pastor Adam” cap on and encourage the troops. I shared with them 3 passages of scripture to spur them on for these last 3 days. This is what YFC jokingly calls a “coming to Jesus moment” where everyone gets back on task.

1
Corinthians 9:24-26 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to
get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight
like a man beating the air.

Ephesians
2:10 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2 Timothy
2:14-15 14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God
against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who
listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

The message from those verses is simple. Finish strong. Show self-control. These have been our biggest weaknesses as a team. As I shared with them, it isn’t too late to show some self-control and to still finish strong. Let’s leave here with no regrets.

A funny note: I’ve made another one of my Adam moments that has everyone talking. While at lunch yesterday I joked with the wait staff about their dumb waiter. Apparently the term “mexicans” is a term for any immigrant to NI and especially those from the Republic of Ireland. They asked me what a difference was betweent their resteraunt and one in the States I just said that there would likely be more Mexicans. This sent them into a roar of laughter and it wasn’t until later that I learned about the connection. Another oops.

Another funny note: Apparently there isn’t much to do here for the police. 3 unmarked police cars took us around on our day off. The car were pretty normal except for the guns in the trunk, the sirens, and all the radios. I will say that is was my first trip in the FRONT SEAT of a police car. :0 The guys were a lot of fun and we may be getting a tour of the jail later this week. Another team got to get dressed up in full riot gear… I hope I get to do that!

Grace and peace,

PA

I am absolutely loving it here in Northern Ireland. It is gorgeous here! I am in Ballyclare now with my team and they are awesome. So far we have done two afternoon clubs in the Grange Estates (projects) and one evening youth club. We have a lot planned and it’s really exciting to be here. Today, one of the boys became a Christian. Jess, my leader, has a pretty good relationship with him and she talked to him last night at club about why we do this. He said he went home and was thinking about it and talked to Billy in our group today and accepted Christ. It was such an encouragement to us! Praise God!
So many things to tell already, but we are at someone’s office and have to go and get showers at someone’s house.

If I can write more later- I definately will. Thanks for your prayers. Please keep praying because as we saw today, God definately answers them!

Love you all-

This is the news from Dawn’s team “in the hood.” Awesome things seem to be happening all over the countryside. God’s love is being shared and young people are coming to Christ. Does it get any better than that? Speaking for myself, I have never seen such a people who are so friendly and also so open to talking about Jesus. Last nights drop in center went incredible! We had 25-30 students there for our first “real night.” Not only were there lots of people there, many were asking questions about Christianity and even asking for prayer. I spent a lot of time with the same types of students I hang out @LF. I tend to talk to those who are “good kids, lots of problems.” [Translate: Adam really likes them because they talk a lot and can take a joke well.] We played a soccer game that involved kicking the ball against the wall. I have no idea how it really works, but I always lost! The game ended when Dale lit his ball on fire after soaking it in hairspray. [Don’t tell Jon D that this happens!]

Team troubles and celebrations. Yesterday was a good day for our leadership team… if you forget that they led a food fight during dinner and insulted the cooking of a church member. I was royally made about their stupidity and… so I wouldn’t scream at them… volunteered to do all of the dishes! That calmed me down, then I went and sat under a tree for a while, and finally calmed all the way down when I talked to Kristen for a little bit. Megan apparently likes to rip my heart out when I talk to her when she tells me, “Daddy, I really really really want to play with you.” Ugh.

Over the weekend as I got to know some of my teammates. In the course of talking to them two of them told me that they felt “held back” in their walk with the Lord since they haven’t yet been baptized. I told them, “If that’s what’s holding you back… let’s go do it now!” They just looked at me, completely shocked at the offer. I let both of them know that if they wanted to that I would baptize them in the lake near where we shower. Well, this morning at breakfast they seem ready to take the plunge. We are tentatively planning on taking this step of obedience on Sunday. In other news of similar celebration, a few people expressed to me that they’d like to fast before beginning our final week of outreach. So beginning this Sunday after lunch through Monday at lunch our team will fast. None of the 10 other teammates have fasted that long but they are very excited about it. Will you consider joining us as we pray and fast for the work here in 5mile?

A few times my Irish brothers have gotten up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 to do our quiet times together. [For the Northern Irish, 6:30 is a good time to go to bed, not wake up!] We’ve been waking up and reading a passage of scripture. Then, as a reminder, we write the word or phrase on our arms that we want to meditate on all day and take off for a walk. This morning Dave wrote on his arm “teach me” since the passage he read from Dueteronomy didn’t make much sense to him and the passage included the remark, “if you don’t understand this, ask me and I will teach you.” So we walked and just chatted a little as we explored some neighborhoods. We saw that there were some woods that needed to be explored and started over that way. As we got into the last yard before the woods we started across the lawn. Out of the corner of my eye I could see an old man hobbling towards us. I figured he was going to yell at us since we had just gotten finished with a huge round of screaming “hey, cow!” at the ladies in the field enjoying some morning hay. But instead he was just stopping us to tell us that we shouldn’t do in the woods since it has a huge swamp. This guy, later described by Richie as “a wee old man with a crazy lazy eye” was actually pretty nice about the whole thing.

As we were saying our goodbye’s the old man stopped us. He said, “So, why are ya’s here in 5miletown anyway?” We told him who we were and what we were doing… this got him really excited. Then, this man in his late 70s proceeded to talk to us about Jesus and his relationship with him. He talked to us about the urgent need for evangelism here and about the Lord’s immenent return to set up his Kingdom. As he went on and on I couldn’t help thinking about Dave’s arm. God was using the wee little man to teach him powerfully. I wish I could say stuff like this was rare, but there must be something in the water here… good stuff happens all the time.

Last night Daphne, our host pastor, asked if I wouldn’t mind filling in for the Crogher church on Sunday in addition to her church. I said, “Why not?” I will be adapting my message from late June called Shaping our Kids. Of course, I’ll have to cut out all the good stuff since I’ve only got 20 minutes. [Did you hear that Bob, 20 minutes? Just think of it as a really, really long introduction!]

Yes, people are still laughing about my sheep faux pas. Still funny… won’t do that again.

Something very humbling happened today. We went over to Maime’s [Me-Me] house to do our laundry. I was totally running on empty when it came to clothes, so today I had to get this done. Richie and I went over there about lunch time and couldn’t come back until after 11-14 club. So when we got over there I started looking around in the garage for my clothes.

That’s when Maime piped in… “Oh, I moved it inside, I’ve been doing a bit of ironing too.” [Insert deep gulp.] So I go over into the house and she follows me in. She is really polite and nice and it is clear that she has not only washed everything I have but also ironed everything but my socks. I took a quick glance over to my boxers… yep, she ironed them too. [The Irish call your drawers “pants.”] Yeah, so for the first time in my life I will have properly ironed drawers to wear in the morning. Just thought that was worth sharing.

We had about 20 or so kids at 11-14 club today. It went pretty well. The leadership thing seems to be getting better. Hopefully, it isn’t too little too late as I can sense the pastor who is hosting us isn’t impressed with the YFC leadership team.

In other news… I made my first major faux paus of the American vs. Irish language. In playing Moose Moose today I was messing around with the motions and suggested that the kids doing sheep should use the motions for riding a sheep. Much to my embarrassment this is highly suggestive of bestiality. Oops! Put that on the most embarrassing moments list.

Here is a note I got from LisaB today

so i’ve been checking me email thru my team leaders laptop and the computer at
the “green hut” (aka the yfc monkstown center) my mom almost made me cry the
other day when i read an email from her. but it’s going good here. kinda bizee
but im not sleeping on the floor so that’s good. having lots of fun with the
kids here. most of them are older than me but they love to hear about michigan
and my life. it’s also very surprising that 90% of all the kids from ages 11 and
up here smoke and/or drink. and the ppl sell it to them directly or they get it
from their friends. so ya. but we’re having lots of fun learning new words, and
coming together as a team. altho some ppl on my team are.. well… interesting
and kind of like whoa… what r u doing? type of ppl. so ya. that’s the news
from monkstown. kinda homesick sumtimes when sumthing reminds me of home. i went
to a baptist church on sunday but it was really traditional and really long. so
ya. but i think that’s all for now. i’ll ttyl i miss u all! see you all in about
um i think it’s 11 days but im not sure. so yaLisa Bee!p.s. i keep flicking ppl
off on accident trying to say 2. argh. stupid irish lol jk

As I’ve mentioned a few times I’ve been reading Lou Giglio’s book I AM NOT but I know I AM. It seems I have read this at just the right time. That phrase, I AM NOT is extremely powerful in my role on the 5mile team.

Last night was our first drop in center. [centre for the NI team… they need a spell checker!] We had about 20 or so young teens drop by over the 2 hours. Just to give you a picture of their life… 5mile is a tiny town. No stop lights, 1 stop sign, and two traffic circles. Life for them is equally small. They hang out because their parents don’t know what to do with them all summer.

Mostly they just go to the park as their is nothing for them otherwise. No camps. No summer leagues. No reading program. [programme for NI folks!] No jobs, no movies, no malls, nothing. Just alcohol, smoking, sex, and paramilitary wannabe’s. [Just think of them as gangs in the States, same deal… they tag everything.] So they hang out in the park all day every day. Actually, you won’t see them until 4-5 PM and they are there all night. Last night a big glob of them slept in the park so they could smoke and drink and do God knows what else in the peace and quiet of the playpark. Then they go home at 4-5 and sleep it off. As we talked to them last night we didn’t just sense a hunger for God… they want to know what it’s like to be a Christian, to have hope is something better, to see outside of tiny 5mile. As we’ve gotten to know some of them they have asked us questions about God and told us a little about them. Not that this is a shock, but it was tough to hear that most of the 13-14 year olds are sexually active and find it odd that we have 19 year olds that are not. These are the students you are praying for. In Monkstown, Kilileah, Ballymena, Ballyclare, Moira… and the others… it is mostly the same. Life without Jesus is, well, pretty stereotypically Irish… no happy endings to their stories.
Here is a little update from Autumn, enjoy!

Hey I’m in Northern Ireland and its beautiful. I am really excited about
my team, they are awesome, and I am in Killyleagh right now, its a small town,
kinda like romeo, but prettier and more colorful, and full of Irish
people. My team is doing community clean ups in the morning this week and
kids club in the morning next week and drops ins at night both weeks. Its
gonna be really exciting, I’m so pumped, but I have to go, its time for Tea (aka
dinner for all you crazy americans)
~Autumn

Kristen has mostly convinced me that I need to go visit everyone else next Tuesday. As usual, I think she is right.

Oh yeah, about the weird title to this post. Last night the 3 leaders [Becca, Richie, and Val] had a good sit down to talk about their inability to lead. It really came to a head and I had a good talk with Richie about it. Please pray that these 3 would step up to their positions. I’ve said over and over again to them that I am here to support them and be the scum of the team. Give me the jobs and I’ll do them… I want to free them to lead. Saying to them over and over again that I AM NOT the leader is all I can do. Like I said, please pray that they would take on their role. They are afraid of it… but our success in these 2 weeks and their future success in 5mile depends on them stepping up. I told Richie last night, if I were Daphne [our host church] this would be a very short lived experiment. They scare me… but I know they can do it. They have to because I AM NOT the leader. I’ll only slide into that role as a last resort and if the YFCNI asks me to. Pray that this won’t happen.

If you are really keen on your NI news, you’ll know that there was a bombing of a building in Ballymena [Either Dawn or Jon is there] last night. No one was hurt and the damage was minimal. I doubt the SummerServe team will even know about it. When you hear stuff like that just remember that the paramilitary stuff is a lot like gangs in the States.